New botnet fraud scheme uncovered in CTV advertising

Written by CSI

16/11/18

New botnet fraud scheme revealed in CTV advertising
The rise in Connected TV ad dollars is attracting more fraud, with a recent spike in CTV inventory found to have been fuelled by a sophisticated new bot network, according to a new study.

Connected TV adoption has exploded in 2018, with 183 million users (or 56% of the US population), which is in turn driving CTV ad spend that will hit $8.2 billion (up 75% from the $4.7B spent just a year ago).

So it is not surprising that botnets are now being used in this environment, but it seems they are taking on a new, bigger form as the Fraud Lab at authentication specialists DoubleVerify discovered a 40% spike in CTV traffic took place in October this year. The big spike in CTV inventory was driven by a sophisticated new bot network, described as the “first scaled botnet attack” in the connected TV space. A third of the impressions were made to look as though they were coming from gaming consoles, with the remaining 2/3 from smart TVs, according to the company.

To generate fraudulent impressions, the botnet spoofed real publisher URLs, sending false signals that tell the ad server that the impressions came from a CTV device. DV also reviewed the types of OTT devices where this fraud was perpetrated, and discovered that approximately one-third of impressions were made to look as though they originated from gaming consoles, with the remaining two-thirds from smart TVs.

The fraud scheme was identified by the DV Fraud Lab which, through a combination of machine algorithms and manual processes, continuously analyses trends in fraud across devices.

“The discovery is not surprising, given that fraud tends to follow the money,” said Wayne Gattinella, CEO of DoubleVerify. “With current data showing that approximately 50% of all Internet users access an online video subscription service or network TV app at least once a week, CTV ad volumes and the opportunity for CTV ad fraud have grown in line with user adoption.”

This type of fraud is something DV has previously detected and protected against in desktop and mobile app environments, and now is able to address within the high-growth CTV channel. The report can be seen at www.doubleverify.com

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